Creators | Ahead of the premiere of Kick-Ass 2, Abraham Reisman profiles Mark Millar, with an emphasis on his subversion of the genre — and the new prominence he's about to achieve with the films based on his comics: "By decade’s end, he’ll have had more of his creations translated into movie form than any comics writer other than Stan Lee." The piece also includes criticism of his work, with Colin Smith observing, "“Millar does indeed have a history of producing work which represents less powerful groups in an insensitive, and often deeply insensitive, manner. There are massive contradictions between his words and actions as a private citizen and the apparent politics of some of his books.”[The New Republic]

Conventions | Matt Arado looks forward to this coming weekend's Wizard World Chicago Comic Con (it's actually in Rosemont) with some creator interviews and a look at the way the con has evolved over the years. [Daily Herald]

Passings | Montana cartoonist and novelist Myron Stanford “Stan” Lynde has died at the age of 81. Lynde was the creator of the comic strip Rick O'Shay, which ran nationwide from 1958 to 1978. The strip was based on his own experiences growing up on a sheep ranch. Lynde served in the Navy during the Korean War and then went to New York with $300 in his pocket to see if he could make a go of cartooning. He succeeded and also became a popular figure at parties. He returned to Montana in 1962 and lived there until recently; he retired to Ecuador earlier this year. [Helena Independent Record]

Creators | In a video interview, Archie Comics writer and artist Dan Parent talks about the openly gay character Kevin Keller's first kiss, depicted in the issue that goes on sale today. [The Huffington Post]

Creators | Strangers in Paradise is set in Houston, so it's only natural that the local magazine would talk to Terry Moore about the 20th anniversary of his creation. [Houstonia]

Creators | Dash Shaw is Robin McConnell's latest guest on his Inkstuds podcast. [Inkstuds]

Comics | Two computer science professors teamed up with several students to create a comic-book guide to Racket, a programming environment, that teaches students how to code games and other simple tasks. [Northeastern.com]

Digital comics | The manga publisher Kodansha Comics recently rebooted its digital program with a new emphasis on e-books; I talked to director of publishing services Dallas Middaugh about the thinking behind the new direction. [Good E-Reader]

Academia | Columbia University librarian Karen Green (she's responsible for their library's graphic novel collection) discusses the course she is teaching this summer, "Comic Books and Graphic Novels as Literature." [Graphic Novel Reporter]